Wayward O can't preview changes to blog template and soon will be forced to ditch blogger altogether. Not great timing because this is big time of year for baseball. Might as well get started on divisiOnal previews a bit early; usually blog would wait an additional two weeks or so in order to get more Spring hints.
Starting off in the AL West this year for no particular reason. Baseball has seen fit to unfairly grant teams in division 25 per cent shot at playoffs each year. But AL West also is division that added more overall talent than any other save arguably the monied, free-agent hungry AL East.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Appear at first glance to have treaded water over offseason, but roster shows core talent remains and team by no means has seen rotation come apart with departure of John Lackey. Will new third baseman Brandon Wood be as impressive as fellow prospects-turned-stars Howie Kendrick and Eric Aybar? Last year Angels barely missed departure of Mark Teixeira as Kendry Morales put up huge season. Wayward O sees same scenario playing out this year -- look for well-managed Angels to barely miss departures of Lackey and Chone Figgins and chug their way to 90+ win season.
Oakland As: Have plugged three veterans -- third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, center fielder Coco Crisp and top starter Ben Sheets -- into youth equation that wound up in last place with a respectable 75 wins in 2009. If Crisp plays all year and stays healthy, Sheets stays healthy too and Crushin' Russian's OBP doesn't fall further in ballpark where foul balls go to die, maybe As make some noise. Side note: Wayward O finds this Team's prospects especially difficult to predict year-in, year-out. Could be the Green Unis. Not sure. Is young Trevor Cahill a budding Zack Greinke? Arguably comparable righties but Cahill's ERA would need to take a comparable drop off proverbial cliff.
Seattle Mariners: Addition of Cliff Lee and Chone Figgins made big news over winter. Can you call them 'chiq pick' when everyone is picking them? Wayward O would like to point out that Ms are relying on two of baseball's notorious head cases -- Erik Bedard and Milton Bradley -- to drive them into postseason. Another key to Ms season is righty Ian Snell, who is something of a head case himself. If Snell can put his post-Pittsburgh stress disorder behind him and anchor 3-spot in Seattle rote until Bedard is ready, Mariners could be a force. It's a near-certainly Mariners will trade for a power bat at some point. Wayward O goes along with those penciling Ms into playoffs but has also purchased eraser.
Texas Rangers: Core of Ranger offense rests on shoulders of Vladimir Guerrerro and Josh Hamilton, both of whom are coming off injury plagued, down years. Vlad said to be healthy; Hamilton not so much. Meanwhile Rangers are excited about starting rotation! So let me get this straight, Texas has pitching but not enough hitting? That's how it looks from here. Weird. Actually they might not have enough pitching either.
Predicted Order of Finish:
Mariners
Angels*
Rangers
As
* wild card contender![]()
Starting off in the AL West this year for no particular reason. Baseball has seen fit to unfairly grant teams in division 25 per cent shot at playoffs each year. But AL West also is division that added more overall talent than any other save arguably the monied, free-agent hungry AL East.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Appear at first glance to have treaded water over offseason, but roster shows core talent remains and team by no means has seen rotation come apart with departure of John Lackey. Will new third baseman Brandon Wood be as impressive as fellow prospects-turned-stars Howie Kendrick and Eric Aybar? Last year Angels barely missed departure of Mark Teixeira as Kendry Morales put up huge season. Wayward O sees same scenario playing out this year -- look for well-managed Angels to barely miss departures of Lackey and Chone Figgins and chug their way to 90+ win season.
Oakland As: Have plugged three veterans -- third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, center fielder Coco Crisp and top starter Ben Sheets -- into youth equation that wound up in last place with a respectable 75 wins in 2009. If Crisp plays all year and stays healthy, Sheets stays healthy too and Crushin' Russian's OBP doesn't fall further in ballpark where foul balls go to die, maybe As make some noise. Side note: Wayward O finds this Team's prospects especially difficult to predict year-in, year-out. Could be the Green Unis. Not sure. Is young Trevor Cahill a budding Zack Greinke? Arguably comparable righties but Cahill's ERA would need to take a comparable drop off proverbial cliff.
Seattle Mariners: Addition of Cliff Lee and Chone Figgins made big news over winter. Can you call them 'chiq pick' when everyone is picking them? Wayward O would like to point out that Ms are relying on two of baseball's notorious head cases -- Erik Bedard and Milton Bradley -- to drive them into postseason. Another key to Ms season is righty Ian Snell, who is something of a head case himself. If Snell can put his post-Pittsburgh stress disorder behind him and anchor 3-spot in Seattle rote until Bedard is ready, Mariners could be a force. It's a near-certainly Mariners will trade for a power bat at some point. Wayward O goes along with those penciling Ms into playoffs but has also purchased eraser.
Texas Rangers: Core of Ranger offense rests on shoulders of Vladimir Guerrerro and Josh Hamilton, both of whom are coming off injury plagued, down years. Vlad said to be healthy; Hamilton not so much. Meanwhile Rangers are excited about starting rotation! So let me get this straight, Texas has pitching but not enough hitting? That's how it looks from here. Weird. Actually they might not have enough pitching either.
Mariners
Angels*
Rangers
As
* wild card contender
